A Tauranga man who made a prank call on a police radio asking for urgent back-up for an officer - causing all police on duty to scramble to the officer's aid - has been sentenced to 40 hours' community work.
Jordan Steven Wadley, 22, pleaded guilty to a charge of using
a telecommunication device for a fictitious purpose when he appeared in Tauranga District Court yesterday.
Wadley is the same person who set off a multiple-shot firework on November 5, which exploded against the Brookfield shops, triggering the security alarm.
Police and the alarm's monitoring company were called to the incident.
Community Magistrate Robyn Paterson told Wadley she was very unhappy that he was back in court admitting another nuisance-type offence just three weeks after she had given him a stern telling off for his earlier "drunken, stupid behaviour".
The court was told yesterday that when Wadley was arrested for making a prank call, he told police he was "drunk and stupid and had wanted to hear his own voice on the radio."
The call was made shortly after 9pm on November 27, not long after a police officer had attended a domestic incident and offered Wadley a ride home.
A short time later the female officer had to deal with a drunk female.
While she was busy outside the patrol car, Wadley lifted the police radio handset and spoke words to the effect of "police officer needs back up, needs back up at the Brookfield shops."
